A variety of blasting media are presently known and employed in the blasting art. Although the known blasting medias may be suitable for some applications, such medias are either marginally acceptable or unacceptable for other applications, especially where excessive wear or damage to the surface being cleaned must be avoided or improved surface preparation must be achieved.
A further problem associated with known blasting media is that upon impact of the blasting media against a surface being cleaned, the blasting media tends to at least partially disintegrate into small particulate matter causing dust. Such breakdown of the blasting media promotes a larger consumption of the blasting media and thereby results in inefficient use of the blasting material. In addition, due to a variety of inefficiencies occurring during discharge of the media from the pressurized blasting device, the treatment of the surface by the blasting media is not as effective as it could be with a more efficient blasting media.
Wherefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a media which overcomes the aforementioned problems associated with prior art medias and achieves suitable surface preparation and cleaning of the article to be treated.
A further object of the present invention is to provide blasting media which increases penetration of the abrasive material into the surface being treated so that the treated surface has a better surface profile to facilitate the application of a material, such as paint, to the treated surface.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved blasting media which minimizes the consumption of media and also minimizes the amount of dust created during surface treatment of an object.
Another object of the invention is to provide media which can be efficiently discharged from suitable blasting equipment thereby to maximize the blasting media's impact and penetration into the surface being treated.
Yet another object of the invention is to limit rebound of the blasting media, after impacting against the surface being cleaned, by absorbing a substantial portion of the rebound energy of the blasting media via a media carrier component.
Still another object of the invention is to facilitate rebuilding, recombining, reuse and/or repairing of the blasting media on site to minimize the waste associated with blasting and maximize the efficiency of blasting media.
A still further object of the invention is to provide media which consists of a plurality of abrasive components combined with one another by at least one carrier component so as to form a larger particle to assist with deeper surface penetration and more effective cleaning. The carrier component can be selected so as to chip, peel or wear at a desired rate, preferably faster than the abrasive material, whereby further abrasive material is exposed as the carrier component wears away for treating the surface.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent and better understood by those skilled in the art by having reference to the appended drawings and the following description.